


i'm not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you

by kevinpricetheprophet (kurtbasticn)



Category: Big Mouth (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Canon Compliant, Eventual jealousy, First Love, Fix-It, Friends to Lovers, Jay is a dork, Love Triangles, M/M, Medium Burn, Multi, Pining, Post-Canon, Some angst, Summer Romance, Summer Vacation, a lot of short shorts, aiden isn't mean or bad, andrew and missy are together, because it's jay what do you expect, discussions of polyamory, emotional matthew, eventually i think, for convenience, guy town is a thing still, healthy jay, i WILL find a way to bring jessi back, lots of summer/heat inspired sexual innuendos, matthew is just nervous, nick will be here eventually too, summer magic shows!!, will add more tags as updates go!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23534908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurtbasticn/pseuds/kevinpricetheprophet
Summary: Jay feels a personal connection to Aiden. They both know what the inside of Matthew’s mouth tastes like.-or; the summer after 7th grade.
Relationships: Jay Bilzerian/Matthew, Matthew/Aiden, Missy Foreman-Greenwald/Andrew Glouberman
Comments: 23
Kudos: 73





	1. chapter 1 / may 30

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fanfiction in years, so this will be rough. Let me know if you like it and would like it continued! Send me all your Jatthew headcanons because I'm going through withdrawals. 
> 
> twit; bryancolllns  
> ig; gordonramsoy  
> tumblr; twinkhades
> 
> also! goodies for this fic:
> 
> jay inspired spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/35ev6yQk3kco1c9kaTH3au?si=Au6ctyplTzq6ylgFPhS_7Q
> 
> matthew inspired spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ZlBzIAZ7DpZIPDQaT1mwk?si=pkRrT_2dTB6miK9jIcpwSg
> 
> jatthew inspired spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50b2qTtO6rsXQjBHeG86NT?si=Pl1i3KbNQemr7Exny8QxNg
> 
> jay inspired pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/gordonramsoy/jay-bilzerian-big-mouth/
> 
> matthew inspired pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/gordonramsoy/matthew-macdell-big-mouth/
> 
> you should really check these out, i had a fun time making them!! 
> 
> let me know what you think! feedback fuels me.

Jay Bilzerian is a bisexual, cisgendered, polyamorous magician. 

He’s pretty confident in that as he goes into summer break. Things just feel so much better when you’re sure of who you are, you know? Fuck that “I don’t do labels” bullshit, it feels good to just know! 

Now that he knows who he is, he is more aware of his surroundings as he walks to the local park to shoot hoops on this blistering summer day.

One thing he now notices is that he is a God among mortals. These puny bitches are awkward and scared as they face puberty, but Jay has mastered the art of becoming a man like the absolute beast he is. He sees girls wearing oversized sweaters in the middle of summer to hide their growing tits, which is personally offensive to him in particular because geesh ladies, it’s 88 degrees outside! Now is the time to show them off! He sees boys in baggy basketball shorts to hide the size of their dicks, which is also personally offensive to him because their insecurities stop him from seeing their asses! 

Jay is clad in his usual summer attire- a tight, white wife-beater tank top and his self-cut jean shorts that leave little to the imagination. His newfound confidence not only makes him better than everyone else at being comfortable in his body, but it also makes him better than everyone else at basketball. He’s totally destroying these douchebags-- especially Andrew, who got a bloody nose from the heat twice already and has decided to lay face down on the asphalt and let Missy draw his outline in sidewalk chalk. 

Jay’s made like 10 shots or some shit, he stopped counting after a high schooler called a foul on him for elbowing some kid in the gut for taking the ball from him. 

Speaking of hurting others to get ahead, he’s in the process of tripping another little shit for blocking him when he’s thrown off his mojo by a yell of “Timeout!”, the game coming to yet another halt when the kid hits the ground. 

“Okay, dude. You gotta go. You don’t play fair.” The same high schooler says, holding the ball under his arm. Everyone’s staring at Jay, and he feels very confronted. Fuckers. He plays the way he does because of Coach Steve’s brilliant teaching, and he isn’t gonna let some nonprofessional assholes change his methods. 

“This is bullshit! You’re all pussies.” he yells, impulsively taking his flip flop off of his foot and throwing it at the bigger guy’s head. He ducks, and it flies across the court and towards the sidewalk, landing directly on the back of Andrew’s head and slamming his sensitive nose back into the concrete. 

Jay huffs angrily and stomps away from the game, making his way over to Andrew, who is now sitting up and cradling his once again bloody nose in his hand as Missy ruffles through her first aid kit beside him. 

“Sorry, bro. Those cunts wouldn’t know how to play a proper game of basketball if Coach Steve kicked ‘em in the balls.” he complained, picking up his flip flop and sliding it back onto his dirty foot. He sits beside the pair, legs spread comfortably with his arms resting lazily on his pulled up knees. 

He’s stuck spending his summer with mostly just Andrew. To be honest, things have felt empty in their friend group since Nick and Jessi left. Jay and Andrew were never that close without Nick being with them to begin with, and without Jessi there’s no one to reign the boys in. He would never admit it outloud, but he misses them. He just hopes that things will go back to normal when Nick returns from summer camp, although he predicts (as magicians do) that there will always be a missing piece in their dynamic where Jessi used to reside. They’re gonna need a new Jessi, for sure. Maybe if Nick and Gina get their shit together, she could be that for them. Plus, she’d be total eye candy for Jay. 

He can’t help but admit that he’s been feeling a little lonely ever since he got a new bedspread and brand new pillows. It was a part of his “mind and home” makeover that he’s working on completing before eighth grade. He madeover his mind by coming to terms with his sexuality and the fact that his relationships with his pillows were toxic as fuck, and madeover his home by trying to clean up around the house for him and his family. They weren’t very appreciative, of course, but it’s the thought that counts, right? 

“Here you go, Andrew. Heh, good thing my parents don’t let me leave the house without my handy dandy first aid kit! And my rape whistle, of course.” Missy says, plugging up Andrew’s bloody nose with a couple of cotton balls. He looked absolutely fucking ridiculous, like a reverse chipmunk. Plus, his entire face was completely sun burnt, something that Jay and Missy’s complexions saved them from. Jay didn’t even want to look at him. 

Andrew poked at the blood soaked cotton in his nose with a groan, before leaning back on his hands. “Ugh, summer sucks. Everything’s falling apart.” he complains, voice thick and nasally, nose stuffed. 

Jay can’t help but voice his thoughts. “When are you going to admit that you miss Nick? Your whole on again off again schtick is so confusing. You’re acting like a couple of lesbians!” he scoffs, picking up a worm from the grass and letting it squirm around on his hand. 

“I do not miss Nick!” Andrew says defensively, in which Missy grabs his shoulders and retorts with “Andrew, your blood pressure!” 

Jay doesn’t care enough to fight back, because it is obvious that yeah, Andrew does in fact miss Nick, so he just shrugs and says “Whatever.” 

He collapses backwards onto the grass and attempts to become one with the worms. 

Being banned from playing basketball sucks dick. He should have brought his playing cards from home to practice his tricks-- he knows at least Missy would indulge him. Ugh, hanging out with just Andrew and Missy by themselves is so boring. He’s better off just going home to jerk off. 

He lets his eyes wander across the park, seeing the basketball game that continues without him, the playground that he considers getting up to hang off the monkey bars for, and then on the walking trail he sees Matthew. 

Matthew, wearing a tight, white polo shirt tucked into a pair of equally tight blue striped short shorts that give Jay a perfect view of his ass. Matthew, with his legs that go on forever-- Jesus, do they ever end?-- and with a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his perfectly coiffed hair. Matthew, with his sun kissed skin and flushed cheeks (holy shit are those a hint of freckles on his slightly burnt nose?), the summer sun affecting him in a much more positive way than Andrew. Matthew, who's walking with his boyfriend. Oh yeah, Aiden.

Jay feels a personal connection to Aiden. They both know what the inside of Matthew’s mouth tastes like. 

He hasn’t spoken to Matthew since the boy completely disregarded him when he came out. He was a little annoyed, he had to admit, because he really looks up to Matthew as gay inspiration, or whatever. He thought the only other out kid at his school would be proud of him for coming out-- or hell, even a little excited, but instead Matthew acted like it wasn’t even true. 

Well, It wasn’t like he was desperate for Matthew’s approval or something. It’s just-- Matthew was his first guy kiss, right? And it can’t just be a coincidence that his male furniture suddenly wanted to fuck him right after he made out with Matthew. It’s almost like Matthew helped him realize he likes guys. And shit, that means a lot to Jay. 

Ever since Matthew got a boyfriend, he’s been pretty MIA. He doesn’t show up to every single social event just to be miserable and make bitchy quips much anymore. Jay understands though, relationships are hard. He was pretty checked out when he had to dedicate all of his time to his two inanimate lovers. He had like, no time for his friends.

Not that he and Matthew were ever friends or anything. It’s just-- Jay feels entitled to some of Matthew’s time as the only two out guys at their school. Some guy who likes guy on guy talk would be fucking awesome. 

Okay, yeah, maybe Jay avoided Matthew just as much as Matthew avoided him after the whole kissing debacle. But that’s only because he got involved with his pillows pretty much immediately after! He didn’t have any time to think about the fact that holy shit, he made out with _the_ Matthew MacDell. 

But now that he’s single, and there’s no school or anything, he gets to thinking a lot! About how, yeah, Matthew is fucking pretty. He’s a bitch, but very pretty. 

And since he’s in the mood for admiring boys (he’s usually admiring girls’ tits), he takes notice that Aiden is attractive too, he guesses. He has cool curly hair, and cute dimples. He’s not as cute as Matthew, of course, but not many people are. Maybe like Gina, and a couple others. Not Aiden, though. But he’s still cute! 

He’s wearing black skinny jeans and a white sweater and-- ugh! Jay already decided that he fucking hates when people wear sweaters in the summer. 

Jay wonders if their hands are sweaty. They’ve been holding hands for the entire time that Jay’s been watching them, which has been like ten minutes. He had caught sight of them as they were exiting the woods, coming out from the park’s walking trail. He watched them make their way over to the picnic tables and watched as both of them sat on top of the table with their legs crossed. They’ve been casually chatting ever since. Okay, their hands have got to be sweaty. Jay knows that his hand gets sweaty when he holds his dick for that long, and it’s gotta be the same thing because both scenarios are skin on skin. 

Jay’s thoughts are interrupted by Andrew, who snaps his fingers in front of his face to snap him out of his thoughts. 

“What the fuck!” he startles, sitting up quickly and instantly punching his friend in the throat. 

Andrew gags like the pussy he is and coughs, rubbing his throat for a second before glaring at Jay. He’s not intimidating when his skin is peeling off and his nose is still puffy from his nosebleed. The cotton balls are gone from his nose now, but the appendage is still swollen. 

“Jesus, Jay! I was just telling you that I’m leaving now.” he says defensively, flinching minimally when Jay gets up off the ground. 

“Yeah, we’re going to eat dinner at my house!” Missy says proudly, throwing her bag on her back. “See you later, Jay!” she says as the two stand up and walk away. 

“Whatever.” Jay mutters as he sweeps the dirt off his knees. He didn’t pay attention to how Andrew and Missy made up, nor does he care to find out. He’s got more important matters to deal with. 

He displays an air of nonchalance as he saunters over to the couple at the picnic tables. He stands right in front of them proudly, chin high and hands on his hips. He’s expecting them to avert their attention to him, but instead they are focused solely on the conversation they’re having with each other. 

“Well, I think Roxxxy’s verse wasn’t even that bad. It was definitely the funniest. And she was unnecessarily villainized throughout the season. I can’t help but feel for her.” he hears Matthew say, and holy shit Jay is so confused.

“Are you kidding me? It’s fucking ridiculous. She’s a laughing stock, and flat out bad. She should’ve been eliminated ages ago.” Aiden replies, rolling his eyes. 

Jay then hears Matthew let out the fakest laugh he’s ever heard. It’s high, and exaggerated, and followed by him saying “You’re totally right. Why did I even say that? I don’t know why I said that! I’m stupid, don’t listen to me.” 

Aiden just hums in reply. The entire interaction is so weird. 

Jay’s getting a little annoyed at this point that his blessed presence is being ignored, so he clears his throat loudly. Both of their heads turn to him at same time and at the same speed and _fuck that’s creepy_. He sees Matthew’s expression shift from a dopey smile to one of shock when he sees who is bothering him. 

“Oh, what do _you_ want?” he says, wide eyes travelling up and down Jay’s dirty body. Jay puffs out his chest to impress. 

“Hello to you too, Matthew!” he retorts defensively, before flicking his eyes over at Aiden, who was looking at him with disgust? That’s rude. He doesn’t even know him. 

“When was the last time you’ve bathed?” Aiden asks condescendingly, and Matthew has the audacity to chuckle at the comment.

Jay ignores Aiden completely and narrows his eyes at Matthew, “Uh, I didn’t hear _you_ complain about my dirty self when you--” 

He’s interrupted by Matthew loudly saying “Jay! What do you want?” 

He only needs to take one look at Matthew’s panicked expression and Aiden’s confused one to realize that oh, right. Maybe he shouldn’t mention their kiss with Matthew’s cool new boyfriend around. Out of respect and all.

“Oh, yeah! I want to invite you guys to my summer magic show! It’s gonna be fucking awesome. It’s on July seventh at Guy Town, and it would be totally cool if you could be there. But if not then whatever, I don’t give a shit!” he feigns nonchalance. He never really thought about inviting Matthew to his performance, actually. He just needed an excuse to go over and talk to him. He wanted to say _Matthew, you’re the only person who can relate to what I’m going through and I have absolutely no one to talk to about me liking guys and it’s really fucking bumming me out and I need to talk to someone about this_ — but he doesn’t. It’s the wrong time, especially since things are still awkward between them, and because Matthew has made it clear that he finds Jay’s bisexuality to be a joke or something.

Matthew looks hesitant, and says “Um, I don’t know--” before he’s interrupted by Aiden. 

“We’ll be there.” the dark haired boy says clearly, eyes boring fiercely into Jay’s. Shit, is it obvious that Matthew and Jay are awkward around each other? He doesn’t want Aiden to think that he’s trying to steal his man or something, especially because Jay definitely does not like Matthew like that. 

Speaking of Matthew, he looks surprised by Aiden’s words. He looks over at his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow and says “Okay…?” slowly before turning back to Jay. “Okay. Sure. Whatever.” he brushes it off. “Now scram.” 

“You got it!” Jay says proudly, before turning around and scampering off to the playground, fulfilling his earlier wish to hang off the monkey bars. 

He feels oddly nervous about his show now. It’s in less than a month and he feels like he suddenly needs to practice much harder. He doesn’t need Matthew to have another excuse to not be impressed by him. Because he will impress Matthew, dammit, even if it’s the last thing he does!

When Jay goes home that night, after the park was mostly clear of kids and he was exhausted from playing all day, he definitely does not think about Matthew’s ass in those shorts when he takes a shower for the first time in a week. 

Ah, fuck it. Who cares. He totally does.


	2. chapter 2 / june 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe the bi inside of him is polar, not sexual. Hm. 
> 
> He stares at Matthew’s ass for a minute when he turns around to close the lid on the case of nuts. Nah, it’s definitely sexual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twit; bryancolllns  
> ig; gordonramsoy  
> tumblr; twinkhades
> 
> the feedback i've been getting on this makes me SO happy. i'm really glad people are liking this, and complimenting my characterization means so much !! keep giving me feedback, comments are fuel !! :)

Summer sleepovers used to be the shit. 

Usually, when Nick and Andrew returned from summer camp in July, they and Jay would get together to play video games about killing hookers and eat a shit load of ice cream and go to sleep at nine in the morning. The original plan would be to stay the night once, but they would always end up at Nick’s house for at least a week. Time works differently in the summer. 

But since Andrew didn’t go to camp this year, it’s only a week into June and Jay’s already spent the night with Andrew like eight times. 

It’s not as fun anymore, because of like puberty and shit. All Andrew does is talk about Missy and cry. He also doesn’t know how to properly put on deodorant, and that means a lot coming from Jay. 

He feels like he’s gotten too much of a good thing too fast. Jay’s usually deprived of Nick and Andrew bro time for all of June, and it just makes the time spent with them even more awesome when it finally happens in July.

But now that he sees Andrew all the time-- the visits aren’t spaced out enough. Jay hasn’t had his month of summer by himself. He’s going a little stir crazy. 

So, that’s why he ignores Andrew’s text message about coming over to spend the night. He needs a break.

He’s already stressed because he’s having to constantly rehearse for his magic show, and things keep going wrong and now _Matthew_ and his stupid boyfriend are coming! 

Not that Jay cares about that or anything. It doesn’t matter what stupid Matthew and his stupid boyfriend think of his tricks, no matter how popular and cool they may be. 

He has no choice but to convince himself that he may care a _little bit_ , but just because Matthew has a summer podcast to keep the Bridgeton Middle students updated on all the summer gossip. _Everybody_ in his grade listens to it, and maybe Matthew will be reviewing his magic show on it. So he’s freaking out because if it isn’t good then Matthew will give him a bad review on his podcast and he’ll be the laughing stock of the school! That is, if people don’t forget about it by August. Huh. 

All of these thoughts are running through his head when his thumb slips and he fumbles a slight of hand trick he’s been working on, dropping his entire hand of cards onto the floor. 

He stands there for a moment, staring down at his failure, before screaming at the top of his lungs and kicking his bedroom door until there’s a hole in it. Ah, yes. He feels much better. 

He slams open the aforementioned door and stomps out of his room, going to the kitchen and throwing open the fridge door with just as much vigor before aggressively chugging milk directly out of the jug. 

“Jay, honey? Are you okay?” his mom asks. She’s sitting at the table in their kitchen, a cigarette in her hand and a half empty bottle of whiskey beside her. She has her other arm propped up on the table with her chin resting lazily in her hand, eyes half lidded. She’s not even looking at him. 

Jay caps the milk, putting it back in the fridge before going over to his mom, taking a five dollar bill out of the ash tray and giving her a quick kiss on the head all in one swift motion as he passes by.

“I’m going for some fro-yo.” he throws behind him as he exits the house, not breaking his stride. 

“Mm. That’s nice, honey.” 

It’s eight o’clock at night, so Jay has to turn on the flashlight he has duct-taped on the front of his bike. He rides into town with determination, trying to put all of his frustration of fucking up his trick into pedaling. He’s riding so fast that the street lights are becoming two steady yellow lines framing either side of his eyes, and each house seems to be making a separate whooshing noise as he passes by them. 

He feels like he’s never going to get that damn trick. 

Actually, he feels a lot of things.

He hates how hard he feels things now that he’s a teenager. 

He feels for the beaten animals he sees on tv commercials. He feels for the brokenhearted ladies on the Armenian soap operas that are always playing in the living room. He feels for the hookers he kills in his favorite video game. He feels for the mailman that Featuring Ludacris tore out the ankle of. He feels for the lawyer who had to handle that case. He feels for his friends, because everyone is growing up and acting different and everyone is always mad at each other. He feels for himself because he’s an eighth grader now but it means nothing because he hasn’t felt like a little boy since the fourth grade. He feels something he can’t name when he kisses pretty boys during smooch or share and everything finally makes sense because _yes, yes, kiss me forever this is what everything is supposed to feel like_. He feels for his mom, because he loves her so much and his dad is a dirty cheater and he just wants her to be happy so she can hold him again for the first time since he was three. 

He feels _so hard_.

Jay doesn’t even realize that he’s crying until he stops his bike and feels the wetness on his face, tears cold and half-dried from the sharp wind of the summer night beating onto him as he rode through the streets. 

He leans his bike up against the side of the fro-yo building, bringing his hands up to wipe viciously at his face to wipe his emotions away. All of this because he screwed up a fucking card trick. Card tricks aren’t even the main part of his show! Fuck these puberty _feelings_. 

The bright fluorescent lighting of the fro-yo shop erases every ounce of exhaustion in his body when he walks in, and he happily inhales the distinct smell of sugar and bleach. He actually feels like a kid here. 

The only other people in the shop are an old couple sitting at the bar and a few high school kids around Jay’s brothers’ age taking up a booth in the corner, so the place is mostly empty. It’s only when he goes up to the counter that he notices that, well, _Matthew_ is behind the counter. 

“Oh, hey Matthew.” Jay says, looking at the little menu of flavors that’s written on a chalkboard behind the other boy. 

“Hi.” Matthew says with a raised eyebrow. “What can I get for you?” 

Jay flicks his eyes over to take in the uniform Matthew is wearing. It’s a white sailor’s shirt with a white bow-tie and white pants. Oh, and there’s a white sailor’s cap on top of his perfectly coiffed hair. It’s all very white. And possibly the stupidest outfit that Jay has ever seen. 

“Um, half birthday cake and have orange sherbet.” Jay decides. He likes throwing two random flavors together that make no fucking sense being in the same cup. It’s fun to see what it tastes like. He’s just adventurous like that.

“Okay. Four eighty five.” Matthew says simply, uninterested and half keeping an eye on the older kids in the corner. They must’ve called him gay or some shit. 

Jay hands him the five dollar bill, “How are you working here? You’re thirteen.” 

He’s tried to get a legal job at their age and it’s pretty impossible. He doesn’t give a shit, legal jobs are stupid anyways. 

“Oh, I lied on my application. According to Little Sailor’s Frozen Yogurt, I’m fourteen and about to be a sophomore.” Matthew shrugs, handing Jay his change before making his way over to the fro-yo machines behind him, taking a medium sized cup and making two identical swirls next to each other in two different flavors. 

Damn it, Matthew is smart. Why didn’t Jay ever think of that? 

“I only got a job here because Aiden works here. We have yet to be put on the schedule at the same time, so it’s been pretty useless.” Matthew rolls his eyes as he hands Jay his fro-yo. 

Of course Matthew only got a job here for his stupid boyfriend. 

“You’re annoying. Why do you talk about your boyfriend all the time?” Jay says defensively as he climbs up to sit in one of the seats at the bar, taking a big scoop of both flavors at once into his mouth. 

Matthew tilts his head to the side, “Why do you listen?”

Jay scoffs. 

“Shut up. Actually, get me some nuts.”

The other boy turns back to his station, filling a small dixie cup with crushed nuts before turning back to Jay, placing it in front of him at the bar. “You’ve been crying.” he points out. “I’m not going to lie and tell you that I care _why_ , but fuck it, I’m bored. I’m here ‘till nine.”

“Like I’d tell _you_ why, Matthew!” Jay says in his same defensive voice as he skips the whole ordeal of putting the nuts on top of his fro-yo, pouring them directly into his mouth instead. 

“Whatever. I already told you I don’t care why, you bigfooted primate.” 

Jay hums proudly at that. What a cool compliment-- he knew Matthew couldn’t resist his awesomeness. 

It’s crazy how much happier he automatically feels now that he has frozen yogurt in his stomach. Maybe the bi inside of him is polar, not sexual. Hm. 

He stares at Matthew’s ass for a minute when he turns around to close the lid on the case of nuts. Nah, it’s definitely sexual. 

“Well, if you _must_ know,” Jay says after a minute. “Andrew keeps wanting me to hang out but I’m too fucking stressed rehearsing the tricks for my show!” 

Matthew is now leaning on the other side of the bar in front of Jay with crossed arms, hip cocked behind him and facial expression looking permanently amused by Jay. “You’re _so_ fucking weird.”

Jay glares, “I’m serious, Matthew. I live a difficult life. This isn’t easy, man! Juggling work and friendship at the same time!”

The other boy hums in faux understanding, grabbing a spoon and reaching over the bar to stealthily steal a spoonful of Jay’s birthday cake fro-yo. Dick.

“How do you practice magic by yourself anyways? Isn’t it more useful to force puffy face to help you, or whatever?” he says before popping the spoon into his mouth. 

“Andrew will be an audience member, dude. He can’t help me practice because he’ll have to know how I do all my tricks for that. And no one is supposed to know a magician’s secrets except for--” 

“ _His assistant_.” Matthew’s bracing himself on the bar with his hands now, having pushed himself up in excitement at his realization, eyes wide and grin mischievous. “You don’t have one.”

Jay scoffs, “Of course I do.” 

Matthew just stares at him. Damn it.

“Okay, maybe I don’t. Missy said no!” Jay leans back in his chair, arms crossed and jaw set. 

Matthew clasps his hands together in front of his chest and lets out a squeal, jumping in place a couple of times, “I’ll do it!” 

Jay sputters a bit, leaning forward to brace himself on the bar. “W-What? No!”

“Ugh! Why?” the other boy whines. 

Okay, Jay definitely needs an assistant. He was gonna ask Gina next, actually. But Matthew being his assistant is a _bad_ idea. He already makes Jay _so_ fucking nervous, and having him around while he rehearses will just make him fuck up even more! Being alone with Matthew will set Jay up for failure. 

“Why do you even care? You didn’t even want to come to my show! Aiden’s making you.” Jay confronts, eyes narrowing as he glares at the kid in front of him who is not used to not getting his way. 

Matthew huffs, “Ugh, okay. You caught me. I just-- Well, I don’t want Aiden to know any of my school friends. You people are _so_ embarrassing--” 

How dare he. Jay is cool as _fuck_. 

“--And I guess I just thought that if I was your assistant, I could make sure that you don’t do anything stupid in front of my boyfriend. He’s going to be in high school next year, you know.” 

Oh, Jay knows. Matthew talked about his eighth grade boyfriend on his announcements _all the time_ last semester.

“I thought you were going to review my show on your podcast. You can’t do that if you’re my assistant.” Jay brings up. If there’s no podcast review happening, then he doesn’t have an excuse to be so fucking nervous about Matthew seeing his show. 

Matthew is taken aback by this, tilting his head to the side, “Huh. Why would I talk about your dumb little magic show on my podcast? That would be _uber_ weird.” he chuckles slightly. 

Um, ouch. Matthew is _such_ an asshole! His show is a big fucking deal. He’s been working really hard on it. 

Matthew must see the hurt on his face, because he sighs and leans forward on the bar again, face to face with Jay as he says, “Okay, look. _Maybe_ I’ll promote your show on my podcast, only if you let me be your assistant. I want to have some say in what you do-- to make sure you don't embarrass us in front of my boyfriend, since he _insists_ he comes for some reason. And Aiden kind of feels bad for you, he thinks you’re poor. I’ll look like a good samaritan for helping you. Plus, he might think I look cute in my assistant outfit. I still have it from the science fair.” He’s smiling expectantly now, mind having wandered off halfway through what he was saying. 

Ugh, puke. Is this what Jay and his pillows were like? 

And well, Jay wants people to come. And people _will_ come if Matthew tells them to on his podcast. 

He’s just worried about being alone with Matthew. What if Matthew tries to take over his show, like the control freak he is? What if he makes fun of him again, like with the science project? What if Jay gets so nervous about his tricks that he explodes onto Matthew in a flurry of _what the fuck why the fuck did you blow me off after kissing me you fucking prick_? 

But as he looks into Matthew’s blue eyes, he relaxes slightly. No. Jay doesn’t care what _Matthew_ thinks of him, or his tricks. He loves magic, and he’s been planning a summer show for months now. And Matthew already said he’s only doing it to impress his stupid boyfriend, not to make fun of Jay. 

Jay doesn’t feel anything towards Matthew. He’s just the guy who made him realize he’s bi. Nothing else. 

Plus, he could use the alone time to corner Matthew and force him to talk about their sexualities together. He’s still in firm belief that Matthew owes that to him. 

“Okay. Matthew, you’ll be my assistant.” 

A slow smirk rises onto the taller boy’s face, gaze fierce. “Cool.”

Jay shrugs, “Cool.” 

He stays there with Matthew for the last thirty minutes of his shift. He tells himself that it’s because it’s summer, and he doesn’t like being home during the summer. 

But, in reality, maybe Jay wanted someone to talk to that wasn’t Andrew for the first time in like, a week. 

Matthew tells him about the discoveries he has made about the high schoolers. He’s apparently been paying attention to their gossip all night, fully eavesdropping. He tells Jay about the love triangle between Josh, Brenda, and Linda. And how Linda is apparently a major bitch, and that everyone is rooting for Brenda. And that Josh might actually be gay and sleeping with Trent instead, because they were caught holding hands the other day.

Jay wants to point out that Josh could just be bi, like him, but already knows about Matthew’s biphobia (He learned that word on the internet) and doesn’t want to push it. 

He kinda never wants to leave. He would be content sitting here, at this fro-yo bar, on his second cup of fro-yo (on the house, because Matthew “doesn’t give a shit about authority”), listening to Matthew tell him about high school gossip, forever. 

It would be better than going home to the silence of his house. His dad took his brothers on a camping trip, leaving Jay with his mom. It’s been nice having a break from the abuse of his brothers, but he doesn’t understand why he wasn’t taken with. He _loves_ being outside. But, he knows it’s just because he’s younger, and that his dad will _totally_ take him next time. 

He’s telling Matthew about this as they walk out of the fro-yo shop together at exactly nine, Matthew having traded out with an older woman who came for her closing shift. 

“Um, you know your dad isn’t a good guy, right?” Matthew tells him, standing beside Jay with his arms crossed as Jay works on turning on the flashlight on his bike. 

“Shut up, Matthew. Nobody asked you.” Jay scoffs, glaring at the other boy as he throws his leg over his bike and gets on it. 

Matthew smirks, “Whatever, Jay.”

Jay feels a shiver go down his spine, which is definitely a result of the cool summer night air and _not_ of Matthew’s pointed gaze. 

Shit. He has no idea how Matthew does that. He’s always so knowing, like he has everyone and everything figured out just from observing all the time. Jay has never been able to decide if he’s an angel or a devil. Or if he just hates himself and that’s why he spends his life focusing on other people.

Regardless, Jay sort of admires him for it. 

Whatever retort Jay has is cut off by the sound of Matthew’s phone buzzing in his pocket, and he watches the other boy pull it out and read the text. “Gotta go. My dad is picking me up at the Dollar General across the street.” he says before looking up from his phone. “I’ll be at your house at _exactly_ seven tomorrow night for rehearsal.”

“Gotcha.”

There’s an awkward pause after that, Jay shifting his weight to his other foot as he sits stationary on his bike.

The silence is broken by Matthew saying a quick “Bye.” before turning around and walking away.

Jay doesn’t go home that night. 

He texts Andrew and accepts his offer of coming over, and rides to his house instead. 

Jay knows what it feels like to miss someone. He misses his family every day. He knows he’s a temporary replacement for Nick, and although it’s fucking gay and he won’t admit it out loud, Jay cares about Andrew. He’s his friend. 

They stay up until six in the morning, eating chips and killing hookers.


End file.
